Late Results of Percutaneous Balloon Mitral Valvuloplasty: The Chinese Experience

To the Editor: We are writing in support of the conclusions reached by Iung et al1 concerning the late results of percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty (PBMV). The French experience confirmed the Chinese experience that was reported earlier with a larger number of patients, namely, a PBMV can be performed with good late results in a variety of patient subsets.2 3 The Inoue balloon technique, which the Chinese investigators have used since November 19854 and the French investigators began using more recently, is the procedure of choice for the treatment of mitral stenosis.5 We also found that a hemodynamic evaluation did not provide any information additional …